At last the Aldens saw the store. There were a few small houses on the other side of the store.
Jessie looked down the road. She said, “This looks like a small village.”
Benny read the sign:
NELSON’S STORE
He said, “I think the Nelsons must live upstairs over the store.”
“I think so, too,” said Jessie. “See the white curtains?”
“I suppose people shop here who live nearby and don’t want to drive into Greenfield,” Henry said.
The Aldens went in. When they opened the door, a bell rang. But the storeman did not need the bell to tell him someone was coming. He was right behind the counter.
The Aldens didn’t know what they had expected to see. But the Nelson family certainly surprised them.
Mr. Nelson was young, for one thing. Henry thought he looked almost as if he were still in college. He was handsome, with brown hair and brown eyes. Although he was tall and slender, he looked strong. Best of all was his smile.
“I’m glad to see visitors,” he said to the Aldens. “I’m Tom Nelson. It gets lonesome here when summer is over. Not many customers.”
“Our name is Alden,” said Henry.
“Oh, yes, I heard you were coming. I have met your grandfather,” the young man said. “He’s a fine gentleman.”
“Yes, he is,” said Benny. “I’m Benny, and this is Watch. Do you allow dogs in your store?”
“It all depends on the dog,” said Mr. Nelson, laughing. “Your dog seems to have good manners.”
Watch was sitting down just inside the door, because Jessie had trained him that way. Once in a while he wiggled his nose and sniffed because a wonderful smell of baking filled the air.
“We are living in the hunters’ cabin,” said Jessie.
“Fine,” said the man. “I’ll be glad to help you out in any way I can.”
Just then a nice looking young woman with a little boy of about five appeared from behind a curtain.
“Puggsy!” cried Benny.
“How’d you know my name?” asked Puggsy, going right over to Benny. “I don’t know you.”
“We saw your name in the Visitors’ Book in the cabin,” explained Jessie. Then she was surprised to see Mrs. Nelson turn red and look at her husband.
The young man said, “Yes, we go up there once in a while. It’s a change and very quiet.”
“I should think you’d go to town instead,” said Benny, “if you want a change. The cabin is even lonesomer than the store.”
The young man didn’t seem to know what to say to this. He stood on one foot and then on the other. Then he turned around and took down a jar of pickles, and then he put it back on the shelf.
“We’d like to buy those pickles,” said Jessie. “We all like sweet pickles and we didn’t bring any.”
Puggsy reached up and took hold of Benny’s hand. “We look and look at the cabin. We look—”
His mother said, “Puggsy, come here and let me fix your shirt.”
Jessie said, as if nothing had happened, “We just used up a can of tuna fish and we ought to get another.” She looked at her list.
“Barbara,” said Mr. Nelson, “please get the tuna for Miss Alden. It’s on your side.”
Barbara Nelson seemed glad to do this. As she turned her back, she said, “You people look around the store. You may see something else you need.”
“I know what you need,” said Puggsy. “You need some buns.”
“Oh, yes!” said Mr. Nelson. “Puggsy’s right. They are very good. Very good indeed. But—”
“But what?” asked Benny.
“Well, nothing. I just could make them better than I do. My father and grandfather were both bakers. They made the best buns in the world.”
“You like to cook, don’t you?” asked Jessie. She liked it, too, and she noticed how Mr. Nelson smiled when he talked about it.
Mrs. Nelson answered for him. Mr. Nelson seemed to be dreaming about something. “Yes, Tom loves to cook. He’s a born baker. He is never so happy as when he is making bread, pies, cookies, and cake. Buns are what he most likes to bake.”
“I like to bake, too,” said Puggsy.
His mother laughed. “Yes, he really does. He can make nice round buns all by himself.”
Puggsy took Benny’s hand. “I like you, Benny,” he said. “You’re so nice. You ought to buy some of my mother’s beef stew. It goes good with buns.”
“Goes well with buns, Puggsy,” said his mother.
“Well, it means just the same,” said Puggsy. “My father’s buns have raisins in them. And my mother’s stew has onions in it.”
“Let’s try them both,” said Henry. “The stew and the buns. Jessie’s the cook, so she can decide.”
“Yes, let’s have some stew and buns,” agreed Jessie.
“I’m sure you will like the stew,” said Mrs. Nelson. “I put it up in glass jars. You’ll need a quart.”
When Benny saw the onions and tiny carrots, he said, “I think we need two quarts, Jessie.”
“Yes, maybe we do. The Aldens are all good eaters. We are going to make a fire tonight in the fireplace, and we’ll heat the stew on our oilstove.”
“Do you have plenty of wood for the fireplace?” asked Mr. Nelson. “When we were there the last time, we left quite a big pile.”
“Yes, we are grateful for it,” said Henry. “When we do go home for good, we will leave some, too.”
“It’s a good cabin,” said Barbara. “We like it so much. Now, don’t you want a bag for these glass jars?”
“No, we have our knapsacks,” said Violet. “Oh, there’s the sunflower seed! We want a bag of that, too. And look at the big red apples, Jessie!”
Jessie said, “Apples are good for dessert. They don’t have to be cooked. We’ll take a dozen.”
“What a load you have,” said Mr. Nelson.
“Well, there are four of us,” said Henry.
“Please don’t go, Benny,” said Puggsy.
“I’m sorry. We have to go,” said Benny. “We have to make a bird feeder.”
Mrs. Nelson put her hand gently on her little boy’s head. She said, “Don’t tease them. They have a long walk back to the cabin. Now, I have put the buns in this little basket with a handle. You don’t need to bring it back. I have several. The heavy things will hurt the soft buns.”
“You are so kind, Mrs. Nelson,” said Jessie. “We’ll come again soon.”
When the Aldens were out of sight of the store, Benny said suddenly, “Let’s stop here a minute and talk. The only thing I can think of is Mrs. Nelson stopping Puggsy when he said, ‘We look and look.’”
Henry nodded. “Right, Ben. There is some mystery here, I’m sure of it.”
“Me, too,” said Jessie. “It is strange, isn’t it? They are such friendly people. But I am sure they are hiding something.”
Violet said, “I think so, too.”
“Well,” said Benny, “if you all agree with me that something is wrong, we can go along to our cabin. Then we’ll have lots of time to talk. We have two and a half miles to walk.”
It was rather late when they reached the cabin.
“It seems to take longer to get home,” said Benny.
“It does seem like home,” Violet said, going in.
Jessie said, “We always feel at home in our new places, don’t we? Just think of the many places where we have lived! And we enjoyed them all.”
“That’s because we were all together,” said Benny. “Let’s have supper.”
“Oh, Benny! But I guess you’re right,” said Jessie. “We haven’t many dishes. I’ll have to find something for the bird feeder.”
“No,” said Benny. “Take the little basket with the handle. Hang it on the tree.”
“Of course!” replied Jessie. She filled it with the sunflower seed. Henry and Benny walked way around the house, because there was no back door. They hung the basket on a low branch of the tree where everyone could see it from the window.
Jessie and Violet were bending over looking at their cooking dishes. “Here’s a tin saucepan for the stew,” said Jessie. “But it’s the only one. There is no other cooking dish but the frying pan.”
Violet found one blue bowl, one large white cup, one vegetable dish, and one soup plate.
“That’s fine, Violet,” said Jessie, laughing. “It’s more fun. We each have a dish of some kind, anyway. We’ll give Benny the big vegetable dish and I’ll take the cup. But I’ll fill mine twice.”
Henry sat in a chair and rubbed the red apples until they shone. “We’ll have to hurry with supper,” he said. “It’s getting dark.”
“We’ve got lanterns, Henry,” said Benny.
“After supper we’ll build a fire in the fireplace,” said Henry. “Then we can sit around the fire and talk, and the fire will keep us warm all night.”
They sat down at the table and Jessie put a different dish before each one. Near the middle of the table were a dozen buns.
The stew was delicious. The Aldens talked while they ate.
“Look what’s on our bird feeder,” said Benny. It was a big gray squirrel.
“Oh, dear!” said Jessie. “I have heard that squirrels scare away birds.”
Violet said, “I have heard that squirrels are simply terrible if they get into a house. We’ll have to be careful to keep the door shut.”
Henry banged on the window, but the squirrel just sat and looked at him.
“He’s clever, though,” said Benny. “See him sit still, just as if he’s frozen. He doesn’t move at all.”
Soon the supper was all gone. Only the apples were left. Henry started to build a fire in the fireplace. He used some pine cones, then some small wood, and last of all, two big sticks on top. The fire burned well at once with a fine blaze.
“Now, let’s talk about the Nelsons,” Henry said. “I think they come here often to hunt for something.”
“That’s what I think,” said Benny. “That’s what Puggsy said. Only he said ‘look’ instead of ‘hunt.’ It means the same to me.”
Jessie said, “And his mother tried to stop him. That’s really why we noticed it so much.”
The Aldens talked and talked as they ate the red apples. When it was really dark outside, Henry put a fire screen up in front of the fire, and they all crawled into their sleeping bags, which were spread on their bunks.
“Nice and warm, Henry?” asked Benny. “I’m asleep already.”
Henry didn’t answer. He was already asleep.
They all slept soundly for a few hours. Then one by one they woke up. There was a funny scratching noise on the roof over their heads. Watch began to bark. Then something ran overhead. Watch ran around wildly, barking and barking.
Benny said, “Now, what’s that?”
Henry called out, “Jessie! Violet! Are you girls all right? Don’t be afraid!”
“What’s the matter?” called Jessie.
“I don’t know yet,” said Henry. “But we’ll find out.” |